Fear
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The Spiritual Abuser: The Five Lies They Tell
At thirteen years old, in eighth grade, I became the victim of a spiritual abuser. I just didn’t realize it for years. I attended confirmation classes in my church and sang in the choir, rang bells in the handbell choir, and participated in the youth group. Ardent for the Lord, I led my youth group in a twenty-four-hour prayer vigil. But I was also vulnerable and awkward. Too tall too fast and prone to saying the wrong thing, I carried a full contingent of insecurities. So when my mother’s prayer partner and friend, (I will call her Gladys) cornered me one day after I had babysat her children for an…
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Why Offering Forgiveness is Terrifying
Grudges are somewhat satisfying. They are weapons we keep to remind us of our own superiority. We pull them up at convenient moments and use them like baseball bats to remind others and ourselves that while we may have done a, b, or c, at least we haven’t done x, y, or z. A good grudge can keep a game of one-upmanship going for years. But for those of us who would like to let bygones be bygones, or whose conscience reminds us that grudges are not a part of an abundant life in Christ, the nitty gritty of forgiveness is fraught with fears that we are not quite sure…
